Sidetracked
by ThePizzaLovingTurtle
Summary: A bit of a misunderstanding causes Cross to get into deep water with the BLADE colonel, Elma. Just as well, in order to clear his name, Cross attempts to explain his plight to a potato and a thirteen-year old.
**Xenoblade Chronicles X: Sidetracked**

Within the BLADE barracks, there stood a woman named Elma. She was not happy. Her face's shade of red could rival her own armor's crimson coloring. A young girl, black hair, white shirt, and eyes roughly huge by normal human measures sat down behind her, what could only be referred to as what looked like a potato with round spectacles, a green coat, and legs-

"Tatsu is NOT a potato!" The "potato" shouted in indignation.

Tatsu, stood besides the younger girl, skinny arms on his hips. Elma stood over a table with a blue holographic surface, her eyes shut. Across the table stood a male, who wore what appeared to be a streamlined diving suit over his person and scuba mask on his forehead, brown eyes worriedly staring across at Elma. The room was well lit, yet a sense of foreboding and dread hung over everyone.

"...Cross." Elma spoke up, her arms folded, almost tightening with each second, her silver hair giving off a bit of a harsh shine.

The male looked up from the table at Elma sleepily. Elma opened her eyes, her azure pupils piercing Cross. The girl and Tatsu flinched at her gaze, while Cross seemed indignant at best.

"Now listen, before we discuss your...problem, know that BLADE, that includes us;"

Elma gestured to the girl and the talking potato-

"Tatsu has said it before, Tatsu is NOT food!" Tatsu shouted.

The girl stared down at Tatsu with a mischievous smirk. "Lin thinks Tatsu should shush or he'll be baked into a quiche, but you know, that's just Lin's idea."

Tatsu gulped, choosing to hush up, staring at the ground in defeat. Lin smiled triumphantly. Across the table, Elma cleared her throat, continuing.

"We've gotten pretty good reports from other BLADE members. Secretary Nagi and Commander Vandham think you're a great addition to my team, and I couldn't agree more." Elma smiled lightly. Very lightly.

"Yeah, without you, I doubt I'd ever finish the Skell flight module!" Lin spoke up.

"Tatsu holds gratitude for you as well, dear friend!" Tatsu spoke up.

Cross smiled, but then gave a questioning look, as if to say, "What's the problem then?"

Elma frowned. "The Lifehold is still out there, Cross. All of our organic bodies… The entirety of the human race depends on us tracking it down."

Cross nodded quickly, obviously already aware of the so called Lifehold Core's importance. With that in mind, Elma cleared her throat.

"Alright, good. Then, I suppose you can explain;" Elma swiftly turned towards the right.

Everyone followed her gaze. A holographic screen flashed into existence, showing photos of Cross. One had a photo of Cross munching on a slice of pizza straight out of its cardboard box, another shown him picking flowers randomly, and the final one was Cross sitting at a bar counter, carrying a mug full of clear liquid filled to the brim, ice floating at the top, his eyes looking bored, or glazed over.

"What you're doing here?" Elma asked with a sharp glare.

Cross appeared to flinch. "It's not what you think!", is what his expression told Elma.

Elma shook her head. "Cross, you're an extremely useful asset to the team."

Cross sighed, giving Elma a deadpan look as if to say, "Yes, you already said that."

Elma sighed, one hand on her hip. "Sorry Cross, but I can't sugarcoat this. There's only eight percent remaining on the clock to find the Lifehold Core, and you're out here snacking and drinking!"

Cross gave a semi-pleading look, "Hold on-", but the plea was interrupted by Elma.

"Cross, that's enough." Elma glared. "Until you begin taking your responsibilities seriously, I'm afraid we can't let you waltz around NLA and Mira without reason. For the time being, Lin's going to watch over you."

Cross blinked, staring over at Lin, who looked just as surprised.

Elma sighed. "Everyone else has doubled their efforts on finding the Lifehold Core, so it doesn't give us many options. Please, just stay out of trouble."

With a weary sigh, Elma left the table, descending down a short ramp, continuing out the door of the room. Lin and Tatsu stared up at Cross, who simply sighed as well, covering his face with his hands.

"Wow. Harsh." Lin muttered.

"It's okay Cross! Tatsu understands, I too take time off from my duties, they must not understand!" Tatsu spoke.

Cross removed his hands from his face, frowning as if to say, "But it was! It was just all a misunderstanding!"

Lin arched an eyebrow. "Really? I dunno Cross, really looks like you were just being lazy."

Cross huffed, shaking his head, giving them a face that said, "I get that what I did in those pictures looked off, but trust me, I wasn't slacking off. I can explain EVERYTHING."

Lin and Tatsu glanced at each other quickly, each carrying skeptical faces, then nodded, turning back to face Cross, who stared at them with a semi-pleading look.

"Alright, well, sure. Wanna start with the pizza slice?" Lin nodded towards the remaining holographic photos on the other end of the table.

Cross closed his eyes for a moment. "Right. Well, it started back when I came across a Ma-non…"

* * *

Cross walked across the deck of a large ship. A spaceship to be more precise. Over the large, halo-like city of NLA, a silver and dark green mass loomed almost menacingly. The inhabitants of the ship, however;

"How do you do, human?" A stubby alien asked in a voice that could rival one of that heightened with gallons of helium.

Were much less than menacing to say the least. Cross waved at the alien. The short, stubby alien had long floppy ears and calm, round yellow eyes. It wore a small, unorthodox coat, sleeves and pant legs covering his arms and legs almost completely. The alien stared up at Cross eagerly.

"So...uh, if it's alright, could you do a favor for me?" The alien asked.

Cross briefly debated whether he should decline or accept. Considering the obvious turn the plot is going with, he accepted, nodding his head.

"Oh, goody! Now, you know of the glorious Earth cuisine, the pizza, yes?" Ma-non asked.

Cross briefly took a moment to stare at the sky, then nodded at the Ma-non with a knowing grin. He took a step back, climbing into a huge mech suit. Cross ascended into the red, yellow, and green mech, the robot lighting up as he entered the cockpit. The mech hovered into the sky above the ship's deck, then promptly fell freely from the sky, falling towards the city of NLA. Pedestrians walking across the street stopped and gawked at the mech, then wisely decided that beating a hasty retreat from the metallic meteorite would probably be better than waiting for it to fall on them. The mech smashed into the streets below, cement debris unearthed by the blow. The mech's head stared up, one bright green eye glaring ahead.

A buff man stood in front of a building with the name, "Army Pizza" labeled on it. He stared at the mech with a glare. Then he grinned.

"How many boxes do you need?" He asked in a gruff, yet somewhat boisterous voice, his sunglasses covering his eyes.

Cross's mech fidgeted, before opening the palms of its metallic hands, five bony, metal fingers on both of its hands.

The man grinned, reaching behind him, shoving a stack of pizza boxes towards the Skell. "That'll be 10,000 credits!"

The mech caught the boxes with one hand, then sent a handful of coins towards the man, who gave Cross a thumbs-up. With a nod of his mech's head, Cross jetted off into the sky, where he hovered over the Ma-non's ship, before landing with a thud on the deck below, the cardboard containers filled with cheesy lunch flopping down next to the mech in a somewhat crooked tower. The Ma-non, who was standing there ever patiently, beamed at the sight of food. Cross's mech began to shut down, its green eye dimming, and Cross left the machine, walked over to the leaning tower of pizza, took a box off the top, and offered it to the Ma-non.

"Perfect! Thank you so much! You can have a slice if you want, you know? Oh, and I've also got credits to repay you! Again, thanks a bunch!" The Ma-non cheered, offering coins to Cross.

Cross gladly accepted the coins. The alien opened the box of pizza, and took one slice, offering it to Cross. Cross gladly accepted, biting into the delectable food slice with the Ma-non at his side.

* * *

"Ah. That makes a little sense, actually." Lin commented, sitting back.

"Mmm. Floppy-eared Ma-non love pizza food! Tatsu gets it!" Tatsu commented, hopping up and down.

Lin stared across, Cross nodding at the two, giving them a "There, I didn't do anything wrong" look.

"Well, what about the flowers?" Lin asked.

Cross's mouth gaped open. "You still don't believe me?!"

"Don't give me that look." Lin pouted. "I mean, come on, pizza is one thing, but flowers?"

"Maybe rookie has crush that he wants to give gifts to. Tatsu knows these things!" Tatsu proclaimed, Cross shaking his head.

"No, not at all." Was what Cross's next look told them. "It's another xeno situation."

Lin raised an eyebrow, Tatsu's ear flaps raising in curiousity. Cross cleared his throat, then gave them a look that said it all.

* * *

Cross walked along, the overgrown majesty of Noctilium rising above him, vibrant plant life glowing in the thick of night. As he made his way through the forest, he noticed a bit of a buzz in his ears. Instinctively, Cross swatted at his ear. The buzzing intensified. Irritably, his hands became a blur as he swatted at his ear left and right, hoping to dissuade the unknown insect assailant from attacking him. His hands smacked into something, the offending organism screeching in response.

As to check on to make sure what he smacked was not going to bother him anymore, he turned to the side. As he did so, he spotted what appeared to be a violet, vivacious flower protruding out of the ground. He glared at the flower, narrowing his eyes. The flower started shaking. Cross gasped, immediately turning back around, dashing away. The flower hopped up, and turned around, revealing a hissing face, four flaps making up the mouth. The flaps opened up to hiss at Cross, a snake-like tongue flapping rapidly with its airy screech. Cross took aim with a rifle which he retrieved from his back, shooting at the previously thought flower, blasting at the xenoform in fear. Tasting a foreign object shoot into its face, it screeched once more, the scream echoing throughout the whole jungle region. Swiftly, Cross stowed away his small, handheld rifle, swapping it out for a large sword that somehow clung to his back like a magnet. With a single swing, he managed to incapacitate the xenoform, the plant-like creature dropping to the earthen ground with a groan. Cross inhaled, sheathing his sword on his back somehow, and began dashing away.

Only to run over about a few dozen more, angry plant xenos. They screeched at him, enough to disrupt his hearing and irritate him further. Wanting to save himself the trouble and prevent further hearing loss, he took off running, the angry flora chasing after him. Past swamps and under trees he weaved, the plants always a few steps behind him. After a few more minutes of running, he finally found shelter in a large tree, surrounded with vines and leaves. The hollowed out trunk invited Cross in, so he gratefully entered inside, ducking behind the wooden walls. The barking and hissing of the four-legged flowers passing by was a reassuring sign to Cross that they had probably passed by. Cross sighed, laying back on the interior trunk. He felt around his back for his weapon, scraping past the dried out husk of a tree trunk, when he felt something soft. Blinking, he turned around and stared at the earth.

Flowers, similar in hue to that of the xenomorphs patrolling outside populated the inside of the trunk. Cross stared at them, fearing that they might lash out at him at any moment. With a steady hand, he reached towards one of the petals, feeling it with the palm of his hand. Pinching it, he rubbed the flower petal between his fingers, the petals feeling smooth to the touch. Frowning, he now knew that the flowers were harmless. However, his predicament soon came to light in his mind, how would he make it out of there was the question. He sniffed, smelling the bare fragrance of the flowers beneath him. He sighed, staring at the flowers. He contemplated their odd scent, blinking. With a frown, he stared out the broken trunk of the tree. The aliens trudged along, hissing at anything else that moved. Glancing back at the fragrant plants, he hatched a plan, albeit a stupid one.

The flower-doppelganger aliens trudged along, sniffing at the air, occasionally biting at flora and fauna around them. They inspected every nook and cranny they could stuff their faces into, growling and hissing as they found nothing in each area they inspected. As soon as they thought of quitting, they noticed movement. In excitement, they bounded towards something. Something taller than them. Something they could kill. Then they promptly skidded to a halt upon gaining a better perspective of what was moving. They noticed what appeared to be walking bush. Two legs clad in a soft material were jogging away, carrying the bush. The xenomorphs glared at the bush, which stopped, sitting still. They walked over to the bush and sniffed it curiously. The scent of flowers permeated their nostrils. They continued to glare at the bush. After a while, the lack of locomotion from the plant proved to be too uninteresting and not killable enough for the aliens. As they turned around, leaving the bush behind, the sound of a twig crunching in half caught their attention. They spun around, the bush lying discarded on the ground. Swift footsteps faded off in the distance.

Cross dashed off, again over creepers and branches as the aliens pursued him all through the day in Noctilum.

* * *

"That explains all the commotion they tracked on FrontierNav. Did you know you dislocated three data probes on your way out?" Lin asked with a smirk.

Cross grimaced, staring down at his hands. "Yeah. Because I was the one to replace them."

Lin snickered. Tatsu on the other hand, stared at Cross with a yet to be quenched curiosity.

"But what about the drinking though? Too much drinks could make belly sick!" Tatsu spoke up.

This message brought to you by the Don't Drink and Fly Federation, stop crashing your Skells you drunks.

Cross sighed. "That's probably the easiest one. At least, to tell, it was far from that trying to endure it."

* * *

Cross's eyes were wide open, twitching slightly. Sitting across from him by a bar counter was a man with thick, flat white hair, laughing as he waved an open bottle of beer around, haphazardly spilling the alcoholic contents of the bottle on his face, a light trickling stream dripping down a scar on his eye, the rest pouring into his mouth or over his nose.

"Haha! Cheers to the Interceptors! A round for all you people from Killer Ostrich!" The man laughed as the beer dripped down his face.

Cross uncomfortably shifted in his seat. The man dousing himself in drinks glanced at Cross, grinning. He took a random bottle from the counter and shoved it in front of him.

"Hey, you want some?" "Killer Ostrich" asked.

Cross politely shook his head, racking his mind for an excuse. "I'm...uh...underage?"

"Ah. Maybe there's some juice or milk over hhhhhh…" The other man trailed off, lying down on the counter, the beer spilling by his mouth, but the man made no attempt to lift his head.

Cross placed his head in between his elbows as he laid his head on the counter, frowning. Looking out one of the diner windows, he noticed the moon barely creeping down over the side of the city. Keeping an eye on "Killer Ostrich", he determined that it would be a long night for him to say the least.

* * *

Finally finished, Cross had his arms...crossed, staring back at Lin and Tatsu. The two sitting across from him glanced at each other, and sighed, nodding at Cross knowingly.

"Alright. I guess that makes sense." Lin said, "It's a little weird, but looking through your history…"

Lin spoke as she held a device, a holographic screen displaying a variety of statistics and descriptions. Lin closed her eyes, the screen of light fading.

"You're clean. ...Sorry for doubting you, Cross." Lin told the man gloomily.

Cross gave her a light, reassuring smile. "It's alright. Misunderstandings happen."

"Tatsu also apologizes on behalf of Linly!" Tatsu proclaimed, Lin glaring at the smaller lifeform.

"I'll be sure to remember your kind words after I boil you." Lin told Tatsu, who shrunk under her menacing glare.

Cross grinned at the two's confrontation. Suddenly, a beeping noise interrupted the silence. Cross reached into his diving suit into a small pocket, pulling out a device similar to the one Lin had previously. A digital map indicated an epicenter, disruptions loud and wide flashing over an area outside the city of New Los Angeles. Cross grimaced, turning off the device, putting it back into his conveniently spacey pocket of his diving suit, standing and dashing off out of the barracks, an automatic door yielding its entrance to him.

"Hey, where are you going?! We have to explain this to Elma, if she sees you out in the field-" Lin began, reaching out for him, unable to get her message out as Cross had already left.

Lin and Tatsu stared at the door, letting the silence fall in. Lin groaned, standing up, picking up what appeared to be a shield at the side of the table, running out.

"Come on Tatsu, cooking you can wait." Lin spoke up.

"Wah! Linly was serious?!" Tatsu gasped in shock.

* * *

Elma was angry before, now she was furious, only this time at herself. Fury and desperation permeated her mind as the tyrant xenomorph stood tall and menacing in front of her. An ape of some description with four eyes towered above her, beating its chest irritably. The scattered remnants of other BLADE forces laid on the ground, mostly shattered. Elma herself was covered in scratches, her body buzzing with adrenaline.

"Tch…" She pointed a gun towards the simius xenomorph species.

The gun clicked. The bullets rang out quickly, just barely scratching one of the large simius' left arms. The ape bellowed in anger, raising one fist which to strike Elma with. She flinched, continuing to aim her gun with vigilance. The fist, however, never met its intended mark, and instead clashed with steel.

"Huh?" Elma gasped.

A red, yellow, and green Skell mech poised for battle stood over Elma, blocking the simius' fists with its own. The ape and the machine escalated into a full-scale fistfight, blows raining upon one another, each punch met with another punch from the opposite species. Elma watched the two, getting to her feet slowly.

"Elma!"

Elma turned around, Lin and Tatsu running up to meet her.

"Are you alright?" Lin asked.

Elma dusted herself off, nodding. The three others watched Cross battle it out with the simius creature, Elma frowning ever so slightly.

"Before you say anything, let us explain." Lin began.

"Rookie was innocent! He was framed!" Tatsu announced.

Lin turned to Tatsu, frowning. "Tatsu-"

"That would have been nice to know earlier." Elma sighed, shaking her head.

Lin and Tatsu stared at Elma in confusion, to which she shrugged.

"I shouldn't be surprised, Cross has been helping others out around NLA. Despite his role in BLADE, he takes his time out of his work to assist." Elma spoke, watching Cross deliver yet another punch, this time landing in the simius' abdomen.

"So, why the precautions?" Lin asked.

"I couldn't be too sure about him." Elma told the two, "He doesn't talk, Lin. And we can only grasp so much from his facial expressions."

Lin and Tatsu stared at one another, obviously having experienced the contradiction to her statement. Nevertheless, the three, or two, a certain little vegetable shaped creature staying behind, unsheathed their weapons on their backs, aiming it at the simius.

"...Are they posing?" Lin asked.

True to her word, the Skell and the simius were posing on top of a mountain, the light reflecting off of the Skell's metallic visor veering off into the simius' eyes. It hissed, giving Cross a free chance to deliver an uppercut, rocketing the simius off the short mountain, where it fell on the ground with a groan.

"...What can I say." Elma sighed, as the Skell posed once more in victory. "His methods, as unorthodox as they are, seem to work."

The simius lying on the ground unconscious vouched for her, whining.

* * *

AN: Wow I've been procrastinating on this. So, there you have it folks. Took me quite a few months of doing nothing, but I finally got around to doing this.

Thanks for reading, this is ThePizzaLovingTurtle, off to play Xenoblade, Project X Zone, and Megaman X. See ya.


End file.
